Saturday, July 4, 2015

URFAD: The Ranger

I’m not necessarily planning to use any bonus classes in my next game, but it’s fun to mess around with what they would look like. Implementing the traditional ranger healing ability as a neutralize poison skill and having rangers gain XP only for spending gold were added after seeing Scott Anderson’s take.__________________________________________

Ranger Level Progression

Level

Title

XP

HD

Atk

1

Frontiersman

0

1+1

–

2

Courser

2,000

2+1

+1

3

Tracker

4,000

3+1

+2

4

Strider

8,000

4+2

+3

5

Pathfinder

16,000

5+2

+3

6

Trailblazer

32,000

6+2

+4

7

Guardian

64,000

7+3

+5

8

Ranger

120,000

8+3

+6

9

Ranger-Knight

240,000

9+3

+6

10

Ranger-Lord

360,000

10+4

+7

Rangers have
the level progression and hit dice of fighters, but their attack bonus does not
progress as quickly. They may be human, half-elf (max level 8), or hobbit (max
level 4). Their prime requisites are Strength and Wisdom. A score of 13 or
greater in both receives a 5% earned experience bonus. A score of 16 or greater
in Strength and 13 or greater in Wisdom receives a 10% bonus. Rangers must have
a minimum score of 9 in Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution.

Rangers wear only leather armor and do not use shields, but
they use all weapons without penalty. Rangers
with 13 Strength and 13 Dexterity may dual wield as per fighters. They rarely
work with other rangers and will not hire retainers unless they command a fort
or castle (they will employ hirelings when needed). Rangers do not gain
experience points by merely acquiring gold: they must spend it or donate it.

Rangers begin with a favored enemy against whom they have an
advantage in combat. In melee, this allows them to roll 2d20 when they attack,
keeping the higher of the two rolls. In melee and missile, their damage die
will be one higher than usual (i.e., a sword that normally does 1–8 damage will
deal 1–10 damage). At level 4, they may add a second favored enemy, at level 7
a third, and finally at level 10 a fourth.

Rangers may Climb Mountain, Hide in the Wild, Find Trap in
the Wild, Hunt, Track (and Cover Tracks), Find Path, and have Animal Empathy
(calms frightened or hostile animals—one normal-sized, adding one at every odd level
thereafter) with a 4-in-6 chance of success. With every third level completed,
rangers improve the chance of success by 1. Treat a 6-in-6 chance as 11-in-12
and a 7-in-6 chance as 19-in-20.

Rangers hear noises in the wild at +1 (so a 2-in-6 chance
for a human ranger) and improve this ability by +1 at levels 5 and 9. When
outdoors, rangers, or parties that include a ranger, have a +1 chance of
surprise and have only a 1-in-6 chance of being surprised.

Rangers have a level-in-10 chance of having the antidote to
neutralize a poison, assuming they are in possession of their normal gear and
the poison is not highly unusual.